Cardiff council’s decision to spend millions of pounds purchasing a plot of land in the new Enterprise Zone has been “called-in” for further investigation by councillors.

Cardiff council’s decision to spend millions of pounds purchasing a plot of land in the new Enterprise Zone has been “called-in” for further investigation by councillors.

The Labour Cabinet’s decision to buy a five acre site at Callaghan Square, for a value believed to be £7.25m, will go before a joint scrutiny committee on Friday afternoon.

Councillor Russell Goodway, Cabinet member for economy, will be grilled by councillors about his justification for the buy-up and whether the deal represents value for money for Cardiff taxpayers.

Rhiwbina’s Independent councillor Jayne Cowan said: “I’ve called the decision in because I feel it should have gone before scrutiny prior to the decision being taken by Cabinet. I also want to find out more about it being best value.”

Pentyrch’s Conservative councillor Craig Williams, chairman of the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee, added: “The deal has left loads and loads of questions unanswered, such as what is (Coun Goodway) going to do with the land?

“Why is the council better than a developer in terms of buying and then using this land? And what on Earth is going on with the Enterprise Zone? Just because Coun Goodway has got an idea or a plan, it does not mean he can completely ignore the democratic process.”

The call-in comes after Coun Goodway told Thursday’s Cabinet meeting that the deal with the site’s owners MEPC must be completed by November 23.

The former council leader said he had been told by the Welsh Government that a “third party” was looking to buy the site and “land bank” it. This, he told councillors, would effectively mean the plot would be left undeveloped “for a number years”.

On Friday, the Welsh Government refused to directly answer questions from the Echo about Coun Goodway’s comments.

We asked:

*Is Coun Goodway correct? Has the Welsh Government advised the council that a “third party” is interested in buying the site to then “land bank” it?

*If so, when did the Welsh Government offer this advice to Cardiff council?

*Can the Welsh Government state the identity of this “third party”?

But in a statement, a Welsh Government spokeswoman only said: “These are matters for Cardiff County Council. Any issues relating to potential land purchases would be commercially in confidence.”

The council has repeatedly refused to say what it plans to do with the land.

But sources have told the Echo that the authority wants to build a 300,000sq ft council headquarters to replace the 24-year-old County Hall at Atlantic Wharf.

We understand the council had originally wanted to site a new convention centre and indoor arena at Callaghan Square, but is now considering using a flatted County Hall for that purpose.

Coun Goodway will appear before a joint meeting of the Policy Review and Performance Scrutiny Committee and the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee at 4pm on Friday at City Hall.

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